


Walk Me Back From Here

by hulklinging



Category: Nyx (Comics), Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Cops, F/M, Gun Violence, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Past Abuse, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 12:16:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4137198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hulklinging/pseuds/hulklinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tommy and Kate are working a case that hits close to home for both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: TommyKate Detective AU. They're not really detectives here, but I hope this works.

"Dammit, Bishop!" Did she not hear him? "I said wait until-"

She's not listening, because she never listens to him. How is it, Tommy wonders, that people think he's the loose cannon? He doesn't think Kate Bishop has ever followed an order she hasn't liked in her life.

He pulls his gun out of his holster, and follows his partner inside.

It's an old warehouse, out by the docks. The boss calls them 'abandoned', but Tommy knows that's not true, because he remembers this place, full of corners that can easily fit a sleeping bag or two. People here had respected each other's space, minded their own business but were there if you were in trouble, just like proper neighbours. Tommy spares a thought to the list of kids he ran with here. One day, when he's a little braver, he might even try to look some of them up. Say hello.

Tonight, the warehouse looks empty, a skeleton, although even his familiar eyes can't see all the corners. The moon cuts through the few windows that have managed to avoid being boarded up. He pretends that's why he doesn't bother reaching for his flashlight.

"Bishop," he hisses. She's still a good few feet in front of him. She looks very exposed. "Bishop. we should call for backup."

"He's in here, Shepherd," she whispers back, in that tense, angry tone Tommy's gotten to know quite well, in their six months of partnership. It's a voice that only comes out when they're dealing with a rapist, and Tommy knows better than to point it out.

"Yeah, and there are about a thousand little bolt holes in here." There are thirty six exits, actually. He still remembers every one. "We're not going to catch him like this."

Kate is fuming, but he's right. He knows it, she knows it. In the dim light, he sees her shoulders tense.

Uh oh. "What are you-"

"This is the police!" Kate yells, switching on her flashlight. "Come out with your hands up!"

Tommy freezes, just for a moment. In that second, there's a pained whimper, and the sound of hurried footsteps. Tommy tries to listen, pinpoint the person running and if they're actually leaving, but Kate is already rushing towards the pained noises. Tommy curses, not bothering to be quiet at this point. The the whole world know that he has the most impulsive partner in the state. He follows her, trying to cover her as best as he can.

In one of the corridors between two empty crates, a pile of rags is crying. Kate kneels next to the girl immediately, and Tommy is instantly reminded of why he's utterly in love with Kate Bishop, even with her tendency for the rash. You would never know from looking at her, that she is one of the wealthiest heiresses in New York. Tommy had watched most of his graduating class at the Academy look down upon or even straight up dislike the homeless population. Kate Bishop, who probably has shoes more expensive than anything this street girl has ever held, doesn't treat the homeless like a disease or a tragedy. She sees them as people, as worth her protection as anything, and when she grabs the victim's hand, Tommy knows she feels a sistership with this girl that has nothing to do with where they came from.

Tommy keeps an eye out, calls in the paramedics, and lets Kate do the talking. They've known for almost a month that a man is preying on the homeless girls by the docks. But this is the first time they've actually managed to get this close to stopping him. Tommy knew this case would probably bring them back into his old stomping ground, but he didn't expect to end up in what used to be home. The perp has killed some, mauled others, and it's too easy to see the faces of girls he knew, in the faces of the dead. Especially now.

"Ambulance is on the way," he tells Kate, when there's a lull in conversation behind him. There's a little hiccup, and then the victim's voice, louder than before and definitely familiar.

"Hey, I know you?"

Tommy's whole body goes cold, that old instinct of flight overwhelming him. He'd been planning on telling Kate, really, but he doesn't want to do it here.

"Probably not," he says gruffly, and doesn't look.

There's movement behind him. He should be able to hear sirens by now, right? Maybe that's wishful thinking. Kate protests, tells the girl she shouldn't be moving, but this one's never been a good listener.

"I know you," she says, right behind him now. He has to turn around and face her, and when he does he makes sure to keep his eyes on only her. He doesn't want to see Kate's face.

She's probably got a broken cheekbone, he notes, one side of her face all messed up, and she's leaning to one side like her world is tilting. But her untouched eye is sharper than he's used to, staring him down. She's older than she was when he last saw her, he knows this, but she looks just the same.

"Speed! Knew it was you." She clasps his shoulder, although whether it's out of camaraderie or to help her stay upright, he's not sure. "All cleaned up like a copper, but still Speed."

"Hey, Kiden," he replies, and guides her down to the floor again, their backs against one of the crates. Kiden was new to the streets around the same time he and Billy were. She'd been the one to show them the warehouse. They'd gotten out, but he knew they were the lucky ones, knew most of their old friends wouldn't. He takes in her thin arms, threadbare shoes, and it hits him how different knowing verses seeing that luck is.

"I'm clean now, you know?" She's babbling, maybe going into shock. Still no sirens. What's taking so long?"Six months. Time still moves like molasses but at least I remember it all, right?"

"That's..." He can't pretend to be distant anymore. He lets himself smile, pull her in for a molasses. "That's awesome, Kiden."

"Not as awesome as you, Officer Speed. Or what do I call you now?" She turns to wink at Kate with her one good eye. "You know why we called him Speed?"

"I can guess." Kate's voice is flat. Tommy still can't look at her. "Where's our bus?"

"I can call again?" Tommy offers, and does. There's an accident, they're having trouble getting through. Great.

"It's 'cause he was so quick, man. Didn't matter what kind of trouble we all landed in, he knew. He'd bend time to be there. Made to run, this one."

That's not the whole truth, but it's a kind one. Kate's 'oh' sounds almost guilty.

Is that footsteps again?

"Let's wait outside." Tommy stands up, suddenly wanting to be somewhere with sight lines. "If you're already up, we might as well-"

A glint of metal in the dark, out by the end of their narrow hallway. Tommy moves forward, gun coming up, but the man is quicker. He hears the gunshot, knows his own shot goes wide even as the pain hits him. He crumples, Kate's scream of his name echoing strangely in his ringing ears. The perp is running, Kate pushes past him, and it's dark but not too dark.

Kate is the best shot in the force, he's always thought so, and tonight he'd put money on it. He hears their guy running for the door, and knows he won't make it there.

One shot. A scream of pain. Hands are on him, familiar hands, and it's like he's sixteen again, bleeding out on this same floor. Both times he'd been too slow, too slow. Kiden's face swims in his vision, like he's tripping again.

Finally, he hears the sirens.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There was no fact-checking involved in the writing of this fic.
> 
> Also, there will be one more fic in this 'verse, about Billy.

He wakes up all at once, his senses flooding him with awareness. He hears beeping machines, smells the antiseptic, feels a weight on his legs. He opens his eyes last, already knowing what he's going to find.

He's in a hospital, his brother asleep in a chair next to him. That explains the weight on his legs- his brother has slumped over, using his legs as a makeshift pillow. He smiles, and tries to guess how long he's been out. There's definitely daylight sneaking in through closed blinds, although he has no idea whether it's been days or only a few hours.

"Hey." His voice is hoarse, and there's a pain in his side. "Billy. Hey."

Billy stirs. They're twins, yes, but despite people's confusion, he doesn't think they look alike at all. In his eyes they are the perfect compliments to each other, a set of matching foils. Billy wakes up slow, opens his eyes first and waits for the rest of his body to catch up.

Brown eyes find green. He can't have been sleeping for long, because his eyes are bloodshot, the circles beneath him a deep purple.

"Tommy?" Billy gives him one more look over, and then his mouth melts into a scowl. "You fucking idiot."

"Wow, bro." He puts a hand up, the right one, because the longer he's awake, the more his left side feels like one big bruise surrounding a point of sharp pain. "That's some serious language. did your students teach you that?"

That gets him a punch in the leg, but Billy's scowl has lifted into a shaky smile, so it's worth it.

"We live there for years, Tommy. Years, and then we get out and you get all this cop training and a gun and you go back and what happens?"

Tommy tries to sit up, but doesn't quite manage it. A hiss of pain escapes him, and Billy is there, already pressing the button that makes his bed shift him into a sitting position. "Thanks."

Billy shakes his head. "Just... Don't do that again."

Tommy chuckles, even though it hurts. "Fine. Even though I'm having so much fun, I promise I won't get shot again." He sombers. "Is Kate here? Did she say how Kiden's doing?"

"It was Kiden?"Billy bites his lip, looking paler than ever. "I didn't know that. Shit, Tommy."awake"She looked good. Aside from the whole being assaulted thing."

"Shit... Think she'd take our couch if we offered?" Billy sounds for a moment eight years younger, and Tommy feels it too. This is all hitting too close to home. They didn't talk about this stuff much because they'd both been there, so what was there to say? And aside from their parents (foster parents, technically, but the Kaplans are the best parents they've ever had, they'd earned that title without any additions a hundred times over), no one in their new lives knew that they'd spent a good portion of their teen years on the streets.

"Maybe. At least while she's recovering." Tommy tugs at the hospital blanket, focuses on the texture until he feels more grounded. "She's clean, you know."

"She is?"

Tommy nods, not looking at his brother, not wanting to see that sympathetic, knowing look. "That's awesome. I'll have to say hello."

The door opens, and it's a nurse, followed by his partner. Kate smiles when she sees he's awake, which makes his head spin. But that's normal, when Kate's around. He doesn't need a gunshot wound for that.

Kate's still in her gear, which means she hasn't gone home. That bit of knowledge fills Tommy with an incredible fondness. She stays silent while the nurse checks his vitals, pain levels, and tells him that the bullet missed most of the important stuff, but he'll still be off the job for a few months, which makes Tommy scowl.

Kate waits until she leaves again to open her mouth. "Kiden is awake. She wanted to know if Wiccan was here?"

Billy blushes at the old nickname, and Tommy grins. "Oh yeah. Billy, this is Kate. Kate, this is my brother."

She shakes his hand. "It's great to finally meet you," Billy says. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Likewise," says Kate, which is a big fat lie. Tommy can't even remember if he told he he had a brother. Still, Billy smiles.

"I think I'll go see Kiden, then. Offer her our couch." He stands up. "You'll be okay?" His smile is a little too smug. Tommy had made the mistake of mentioning he fancied a coworker, and Billy's no idiot.

He barely resists sticking his tongue out at his brother. "Yeah. Uh..." He realizes he still has no idea how long he's been here, or how much longer he'll need to stay.

Kate beats Billy to the answer. "If everything looks good, you get to go home tonight, as long as you've got someone to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"Something stupid?" He's a little hurt. "I took a bullet for you!"

This earns him an eye-roll. "That is a dramatic retelling."

"I'll be back later to get him home, then," says Billy, and with a last pointed look, he hurries out of the room.

"You live with your brother?"

Tommy nods. There's a wrinkle in Kate's brow, but it's gone before he can puzzle over it.

"I thought... never mind. Anyway, we caught the perp. He's down the hall, actually." She must see the question in his eyes, because she adds "I got him in the knee, and he is currently cuffed and confessing."

The last bit of tension leaks out of Tommy's shoulders. "Good." Earlier would have been better, but at least getting him off the streets meant that Kiden was his last victim.

"And regardless of where that bullet was going, people are already calling you a hero." Kate collapses in the chair Billy vacated. "So thanks, hero."

"Do you know how long I'll be out?" He doesn't do well when he's not busy. Got to keep moving, or he'll have too much time to think.

Kate sneaks a glance at him. "Well, you got shot, Tommy. Even just for desk work, you should take at least a few weeks off. Plus, a psych eval. Make sure you're mentally okay, too."

Tommy groans, and lets his head fall back onto his pillows. There's a long silence. He knows Kate is staring at him still.

"You can ask me," he says finally, because he has no patience for waiting.

Neither does Kate. "You lived on the streets."

"I don't hear a question."

A pause. "How old were you two?"

"Fifteen?" Give or take a few months. "By seventeen, we were with the Kaplans. There was about six months or so of temporary homes in there, but the rest of the time were were homeless, yeah."

"Oh," says Kate. It's her 'oh' of filing facts away, which is good, because there is no pity in that word. Tommy wouldn't be able to handle pity, especially not from her. "Why?"

"Why were we homeless?" He wants to shrug, but he's leery of moving his arms too much. "Well, the Shepherds... weren't great. I messed up, got myself in juvie for a few months. Came back and Billy-" His hands clench into fists. "Well, we had to get out of there. I knew that. Guy I knew from juvie helped us get to the city, helped us disappear. I don't think they looked very hard."

Kate is silent, and he can guess what's coming. The question about the names, about what a kid named Speed was getting up to with a recovering addict like Kiden. He closes his eyes, braced for it.

It doesn't come.

Instead, he hears Kate's chair creak, and then there's a hand on his.

"I think," mutters Kate, the tone of her voice something he doesn't quite recognize. "That's pretty inspirational. That you both got out of there. That you became a cop."

"Billy's a teacher," he can't help but brag. "Well, substitute. But he's really good." From high school drop out to high school teacher. It's like an after-school special.

And he knows Kate must have a billion more questions. In her place, he would too. But that is all she asks. As each minute ticks by, he lets himself relax. He knows he should tell Kate to go home. She's not inclined to stay, has no reason too. She has gone above and beyond her duty as his partner. But there's something so safe about knowing she's here. He lets himself doze.

He's not quite asleep when he hears Kate get up. There's a moment more of silence, and then a soft press of lips to his cheek. This can't be happening. This must be a dream.

He opens his eyes.

Kate jumps back, face red. "I thought you were asleep."

"Do you usually kiss people while they're sleeping?" It comes off flippant, although he is legitimately interested. It's a good thing to know about someone, is all.

"No! And I wasn't-" He watches as Kate takes a deep breath, collects herself. He takes a moment to marvel at how in control of herself she is. He wonders how often she got herself in hot water, before she learned this trick. Although this is Kate. She's never gotten herself into a fight she couldn't finish.

God, she's beautiful.

"Look, sorry. That was out of line. I haven't slept, and I wasn't thinking."

"I'm shocked." Kate looks guilty, so he goes on before he can think of a reason not to. "Usually you don't let sleep affect your aim."

She blinks. "My aim."

She looks so stunned, and so stunning, and he thinks about how she hates hospitals but stayed in one all night. For him.

He wonders how long he's been in love with her.

"Yeah," he says. "You missed my mouth."

She frowns. "Shepherd."

"Kate."

_"Tommy."_

Maybe he pushed too hard, misread something. He immediately backs off. "Sorry."

Kate shakes her head, but she's smiling. Smiling at him like he's done something brilliant. She leans over him, and it isn't real until their lips touch, a soft kiss that feels like something from a fairytale. Something to wake the beauty sleeping.

(he's in a bed, he's injured, Kate started it when he was asleep, it's not conceited of him to cast himself as the beauty)

She pulls away after a moment, but her eyes don't leave his. "Dating your partner is advised against, you know."

"So is going after a bad guy with no backup."

"Shut up," she says, "or you'll make me regret this."

He shuts up.

She thanks him with a kiss.

 


End file.
